Walk through Amos, verse by verse, with the great Bible Commentaries of Matthew Henry (1662 - 1714) & Adam Clarke (1760 - 1832)
{The words of Amos be these, that was in the shepherds’ things of Tekoa, which he saw on Israel, in the days of Uzziah, that is, Azariah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Jehoash , king of Israel, before two years of the earth-moving. (These be the words of Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa, what he said about Israel, in the days of Uzziah, the king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, the king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.)} Wycliffe's Bible
The words of Amos - This person and the father of Isaiah, though named alike in our translation, were as different in their names as in their persons. The father of Isaiah, אמוץ Amots ; the prophet before us, עמוס Amos . The first, aleph, mem, vau, tsaddi ; the second, ain, mem, vau, samech .
The general character of this prophecy. It consists of the words which the prophet saw. Are words to be seen? Yes, God’s words are; They were revealed to him in a vision, as John is said to see the voice that spoke to him, Revelation 1:12. 2.
Among the herdmen - He seems to have been among the very lowest orders of life, a herdsman, one who tended the flocks of others in the open fields, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. Of whatever species this was, whether a kind of fig, it is evident that it was wild fruit; and he probably collected it for his own subsistence, or to dispose of either for the service of his employer, or to increase his scanty wages.
The time when these prophecies were delivered. 1. The book is dated, as laws used to be, by the reigns of the kings under whom the prophet prophesied. It was in the days of Uzziah king of Judah,..
2. It is dated by a particular event to which is prophecy had a reference; it was two years before the earthquake, that earthquake which is mentioned to have been in the days of Uzziah (Zechariah 14:5), which put the nation into a dreadful fright, for it is there said, They fled before it. But how could they flee from it? Some conjecture that this earthquake was at the time of Isaiah’s vision, when the posts of the door were moved, Isaiah 6:4. The tradition of the Jews is that it happened just at the time when Uzziah presumptuously invaded the priest’s office and went in to burn incense, 2 Chronicles 26:16. Josephus mentions this earthquake, Antiq. 9.225, and says, “By it half of a mountain was removed and carried to a plain four furlongs off; and it spoiled the king’s gardens.”
The persons concerned in the prophecy of this book; it is concerning Israel, the ten tribes, who were now ripened in sin and ripening apace for ruin. God has raised them up prophets among themselves (Amos 2:11), but they regarded them not; therefore God sends them one from Tekoa, in the land of Judah, that, coming from another country, he might be the more valued, and perhaps he was the rather sent out of his own country because there he was despised for his having been a herdsman.
1:1
The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. KJV
The words of Amos - This person and the father of Isaiah, though named alike in our translation, were as different in their names as in their persons. The father of Isaiah, אמוץ Amots ; the prophet before us, עמוס Amos . The first, aleph, mem, vau, tsaddi ; the second, ain, mem, vau, samech .
The general character of this prophecy. It consists of the words which the prophet saw. Are words to be seen? Yes, God’s words are; They were revealed to him in a vision, as John is said to see the voice that spoke to him, Revelation 1:12. 2.
Among the herdmen - He seems to have been among the very lowest orders of life, a herdsman, one who tended the flocks of others in the open fields, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. Of whatever species this was, whether a kind of fig, it is evident that it was wild fruit; and he probably collected it for his own subsistence, or to dispose of either for the service of his employer, or to increase his scanty wages.
The time when these prophecies were delivered. 1. The book is dated, as laws used to be, by the reigns of the kings under whom the prophet prophesied. It was in the days of Uzziah king of Judah,..
2. It is dated by a particular event to which is prophecy had a reference; it was two years before the earthquake, that earthquake which is mentioned to have been in the days of Uzziah (Zechariah 14:5), which put the nation into a dreadful fright, for it is there said, They fled before it. But how could they flee from it? Some conjecture that this earthquake was at the time of Isaiah’s vision, when the posts of the door were moved, Isaiah 6:4. The tradition of the Jews is that it happened just at the time when Uzziah presumptuously invaded the priest’s office and went in to burn incense, 2 Chronicles 26:16. Josephus mentions this earthquake, Antiq. 9.225, and says, “By it half of a mountain was removed and carried to a plain four furlongs off; and it spoiled the king’s gardens.”
The persons concerned in the prophecy of this book; it is concerning Israel, the ten tribes, who were now ripened in sin and ripening apace for ruin. God has raised them up prophets among themselves (Amos 2:11), but they regarded them not; therefore God sends them one from Tekoa, in the land of Judah, that, coming from another country, he might be the more valued, and perhaps he was the rather sent out of his own country because there he was despised for his having been a herdsman.
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